Across the Tank
by vcbxnzm21
Summary: When Bill Weasley starts doing poorly at work due to a bad break-up, they send him on a forced holiday to Falmouth. But when he spies a beautiful girl across the fish tank from him things may just start looking up. Written for the final round of the Quidditch Comp!


**AN: So here is my final fic for the Quidditch Comp! I have had such a blast writing for the games and at times it was a challenge but I know that I really grew as a writer so thank you for that! **

**Also thank you to my amazing teammates! I couldn't have done this without you guys. And I will probably never forget the forum conversations that I got to see. Go Falcons!**

**My prompts were "XO" by Beyoncé, Happy Ever After, and Dialogue, "Well, s/he didn't exactly say it like that..."**

**So I hope that you guys enjoy and please review!**

A young man with limp red hair that hung around his lifeless tired eyes stared into the fish tank at the aquarium in Falmouth.

Bill Weasley was never one for holidays, especially to a place like this.

So sure he was having a rough time at work. A few missed curses, a few dodgy escapes, a continuous thought of her and only her, a complete lack of focus while in the field, a few more trips to the hospital tent.

But that didn't warrant an excuse for them to send him on this forced holiday!

But even his mother agreed that some time off of the job would do him some good. She even went as far as to tell him to find another girl.

There could never be another girl. Not after her.

She was perfect. Everything that he could have ever asked for. And now she was gone. Just the mere thought of her could bring Bill to tears.

They had so many happy memories together but she had left him for some new bloke. One with a less dangerous job. One that had a less crazy family. One that could actually sit still for longer than five minutes. One that never lived life on the edge and dared to take risks. One that was the exact opposite of who he was.

That's when a movement across the tank from him caught his eye. A pair of bright blue eyes stared at him through the glass and water. It was a girl. Younger than him he could tell but beautiful none the less. She had stunning blonde hair that fell perfectly down to the middle of her back.

Bill stared at her in awe wondering where on Earth she could have come from.

A sudden announcement broke his concentration on the girl and he looked upward at the ceiling. "The aquarium will be closing in five minutes," he heard over the loud speaker.

When he looked back at the girl she was gone.

He let out a heavy sigh before turning and walking away to go spend another night in the bar.

Bill walked into the dark night. He knew exactly where he was going even without the help of light. He had walked the street from the aquarium to the bar almost every day for a week now. At least this stupid holiday was almost over and he could go back to Egypt and his job.

Bill walked into one of the only bars in Falmouth and sat at the counter. He was becoming known as one of the regulars in town so the bartender got him his usual Firewhiskey without a word. Bill smiled gratefully at the man before taking a large swig of the alcohol. He looked around the room as the bar slowly filled with the night owl crowd of Falmouth.

That's when he saw the small stage near the front of the bar being set up with some sort of strange muggle equipment.

"Hey," he said getting the attention of the bartender. When the man finally looked his way he asked, "What's with all the stuff on the stage?"

"Oh that," the bartender replied refilling his Firewhiskey. "Some strange new muggle thing that the boss thought would be a good idea. Something called Karaoke. Beat's me!" The bartender shrugged his shoulders before moving away to help other customers.

Bill turned to look at the stage again as a loud sound boomed through the bar. A man was standing on the stage now speaking into something that amplified his voice. It looked to be made of metal and somesort of sponge thing on the end that the man was talking into.

"I'd like to welcome everyone tonight to the first ever Wizard Karaoke night!" the man said with a large fake smile. Bill scoffed before returning to his drink. "First up I'd like to welcome Gabrielle who is here with us all the way from France!"

There was collective cheering from the people in the bar but a few people at a table all stood up and cheered for the little girl, no older than 10, who walked up to the stage. The blonde hair and blue eyes caught his attention immediately.

She sang some song in French that Bill didn't really pay attention to. He was more focused on trying to figure out if this was the girl he had seen across the tank back at the aquarium. But he never had that great of luck.

When she finished the entire bar clapped and cheered. Even Bill found himself clapping along with everyone else.

"Well folks wasn't she great!" the man who had introduced her said with another smile as he leapt back onto the stage. "And next up we have…"

Bill didn't hear the end of his sentence. He was too focused on the table at which the little girl had gone back to. Why a family had decided to spend their evening at an old rundown bar was beyond him but he was glad that they were there.

Loud pop music filled the room then and Bill knew that the next performer was starting their song.

"_Your love is bright as ever__, e__ven in the shadows__. __Baby kiss me, before the turn the lights out__. __Your heart is glowing__, a__nd I'm crashing into you__. __Baby kiss me__, b__efore they turn the lights out__, b__efore they turn the lights out__. __Baby love me lights out__."_

The words filled the air as a pair of blue eyes suddenly met his. They weren't the blue eyes of the little girl though. These were the blue eyes that he had seen across the tank.

"_In the darkest night hour,__I'll search through the crowd__. __Your face is all that I see__. __I'll give you everything__. __Baby, love me like XO__. __Baby, love me like XO__. __You can turn my light down__."_

The girl on stage continued to sing but Bill only had eyes for the girl sitting across the room from him. He saw the young girl singer nudge the one he was staring at and say something. The older girl blushed looking away from Bill. But there was something so different about her, something that was so different from the girl that he couldn't stop thinking about.

"_We don't have forever__. __Baby daylight's wasting__. __You better kiss me__, b__efore our time is run out__. __Nobody sees what we see__. __They're just hopelessly gazing__. Baby take me, before they turn the lights out, before time is run out. Baby love me lights out."_

Bill knew that he should look away, to stop staring at this girl that he didn't know but there was something so different about her, something that was so different from the girl that he couldn't stop thinking about, the girl that was slowly being pushed from his mind by this beautiful stranger.

"_In the darkest night hour__, __I'll search through the crowd__. __Your face is all that I see__. __I'll give you everything__. __Baby, love me like XO__. __Baby, love me like XO__. __You can turn my light down__."_

The younger girl suddenly stood. She was graceful, like a dancer, and smiled at Bill. She slowly made her way over to the stool where he sat.

"_I love you like XO__. __You love me like XO__. __You kill me boy XO__. __You love me like XO__. __All that I see__, g__ive me everything__. __Baby love me lights out__. __Baby love me lights out__. __You can turn my lights out__."_

The song ended just as the girl sat down on the stool next to him. The cheering and clapping nearly drown out her voice as she said, "'Ello monsieur."

"Hi," Bill said slightly confused.

"That iz my zizter 'hat you 'ave been ztaring at all night," she said with a smile. "My name iz Gabrielle 'nd my zizter is Fleur."

"Well it's nice to meet you Gabrielle," Bill said with a small smile of his own. He had enough younger siblings to know that when a child talked to you, you always talked back, no matter the circumstances.

"Why do 'ou look zo zad?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

Bill stared down into her wide blue eyes in shock. He didn't know how she knew that he was sad but what the hell, he had nothing to lose! "It's because someone that I loved a lot left me very recently and I was doing badly at my job so they sent me here for a holiday."

"I'm 'ere on an 'oliday too!" Gabrielle told him.

"Where from?" Bill asked deciding to humor the little girl even though the man before had said that she was from France and her accent gave it away as well.

"Pariz, France," Gabrielle said proudly puffing out her chest a little bit. "But we go 'ome in 'he morning."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Bill said glancing across the bar to where Fleur sat.

"But we 'ad a great time 'ere! Zo many new zightz 'nd zoundz!" Gabrielle said excitedly. Bill smiled down at her but didn't say anything. "Did 'our girlfriend leave?" she suddenly asked. "Fleur zaid 'hat people get very zad when 'heir boyfriend or girlfriend leavez. Zhe looked like 'ou 'hen 'er boyfriend left."

Bill stared at the little girl in shock again. How this little girl was so smart for her young age astounded him. With a sigh he looked away from her and said, "Yes. My girlfriend left. She said that I didn't care about her enough to want to stay alive. I have a very dangerous job."

"Zo zhe wanted zomeone 'oring?" Gabrielle asked scrunching her eyebrows together.

"Well, she didn't exactly say it like that..." Bill said scratching the back of his neck. "But that's how I see it, yes."

"Well maybe if 'ou meet my zizter 'ou two can be boyfriend and girlfriend and 'hen neither of 'ou 'ill 'ave to be zad and 'ou will live 'appy ever after!" she exclaimed after thinking about it for a few moments.

"That's not exactly how it works Gabrielle," Bill tried to explain as the little girl took his hand and pulled him from his stool. She dragged him over to the table where her parents and sister sat.

"Papa, Maman, Fleur," she said getting their attention. She said something in rapid French then so Bill had no idea what she was saying. The three people at the table smiled at him as soon as Gabrielle was done talking.

"Gabrielle," Fleur said looking at her little sister. Her voice was much sweeter than Bill expected it to be. It was like that of an angel. She spoke French then and by Gabrielle's reactions she was being scolded.

Gabrielle dropped his hand then. She looked at the floor as she mumbled, "Zorry to 'ave bothered 'ou zir."

"It's no problem," he told her with a small smile. "It was nice meeting and chatting with you Gabrielle."

"It waz 'ice meeting 'ou too!" she said with smile looking up at him but then her face changed. She looked at him with confusion in her eyes and said, "But I never got 'our name."

"Bill," he told her but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at Fleur. He glanced down at Gabrielle again, who was beaming up at him. "I should go now. Have a safe trip back." She nodded at him and he turned to leave.

He walked back to the bar and paid his bill planning on heading back to the inn he was staying at. He got right outside the doors before he heard someone call his name

"Monsieur Bill, wait!"

Bill stopped and looked behind him to see Fleur coming out of the bar doors. Bill smiled as she approached him. "I wanted to zay 'hank 'ou for talking with my zizter. Not many people 'ere 'ould 'ave done 'hat."

"I know," Bill told her. "I have younger siblings myself so I know what it's like to talk to a kid that age."

Both fell silent then as neither one knew what to say.

"Well I zhould go now. My parentz will be looking for me," Fleur said turning to walk away.

"Wait!" Bill cried reaching out to grab her arm. "You were the one from the aquarium right? The one who looked at me from across the tank?"

Fleur blushed and nodded. "'Ou looked zo zad 'nd I knew that zomething bad 'ad juzt 'appened to 'ou. I thought 'hat maybe I…maybe I could 'elp."

Now it was Bill's turn to blush as he realized that this stranger was just offering him something that no one else had.

**AN: So I hope that you liked it and please remember to review! And I hope that the French accents aren't too horrible and are still slightly readable... They're actually a lot harder to write than you think! Anywho please review and good luck to all the other Quidditch players!**


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